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High school bowlers find tough competition at state tournament

By Jan Schultz The Imperial Republican

Chase County’s high school bowling team of six made another appearance at the Class C state tournament in Lincoln, but found some tough competition there.
Coach Denise Smith said six of the seven roster bowlers attended, and all of them participated.
In the competition, Cade Francis, Sydney Vetter, Joel DaMoude and Nike Smith bowled the first three regular games, with Lauren Prior and Orrin Richardson subbing in the last of the regular games for seeding.
“We were seeded seventh out of eight after the first and second regular games. We had a really rough third one and after that, we were seeded eighth,” Smith reports.
After the fourth game, the team was still seeded eighth but just 20 pins out of seventh.
That pitted Chase County against the No. 1 seed North Bend, the eventual Class C state champion, for the first round of baker’s games to advance.
Pin totals for Chase County’s games were 546, 550, 444 and 564. No one from the team placed in the top 10 this year.
Individually, Vetter finished 16th with a 592 series; Francis was 25th with a 553 series; DaMoude placed 28th with 368 series; and Smith placed 30th with a 351.
Baker’s games’ head-to-head scores were 127-179, 95-223 and 135-181.
While it wasn’t how they wanted to finish the season, Smith expressed appreciation to the community for its support, especially Imperial Lanes owners Jerry and Lori Rowley, who provide the bowling alley for the students.
The entire bowling team qualified for state after a runner-up finish at districts the end of January. The state tournament was held in Lincoln Feb. 11.